Friday, November 29, 2013

It was a fairly typical late November day at the Podex Exchange. Transactions were going about at fairly busy rate. Between customers coming in, the tellers talked about where to get decorations for Thanksgiving. They also talked about holiday events, such as the one at Aero Pines Park.

It was in the middle of one of their conversations that a figure walked in. He was dressed all in black, with a white shirt underneath. He had on a dark cloak, and a funny hat with a buckle bigger than the one on his belt. Slung over his back was what looked like the stock of a firearm.

"Um, can we help you?" One of the tellers asked.

"Yes," spoke the visitor, "I was chasing a turkey, and I saw it run in here."

"A turkey?"

"Yes. I'm having a dinner of thanks with some very important neighbors, and they insisted a wild turkey be on the menu. Oh, I think I just saw him duck into there, where the vault is. I'll just be going in there after him."

"I think not," the teller chuckled, "I should have guessed it was just a matter of time before you pulled another one of your shenanigans, Clumsy Cooper."

"Who be clumsy? I just be a simple pilgrim trying to catch dinner for friends and family."

"I'll tell you what, since you livened up our day with your hilarity, we won't call the cops on you, if you just turn around and walk out that door."

"How about this?" Clumsy dropped his puritan act and drew the gun, a blunderbuss from the early days of firearms, "Hand over the Lindens, and no one gets hurt."

Instead of fear, the tellers just laughed, "You have got to be kidding. We know you. You haven't got the cash or patience to get anything more than a cheap freebie. That won't work here."

"Oh yeah?" Clumsy pointed the blunderbuss over the tellers' heads and pulled the trigger …

Nothing.

Clumsy blinked, then tried firing the gun again. It still wouldn't go off. "What the blazes? … He took the blunderbuss, and looked down the barrel

BLAM!!

The gun went off right in Clumsy's face. Fortunetly for him, the blunderbuss' ammo wasn't fatal, the old weapon's purpose being mainly to scare and make noise. But the blast knocked the thief right out, and he collapsed. Once the tellers made sure he was otherwise okay, they called the police. The SLPD then showed up, and took Clumsy away, charged with attempted griefing.

But even if Clumsy Cooper's scheme had worked, there was no way he could have gotten away with any ill-gotten gains.
“All our exchanges are done through electronic transfer,” a teller later
explained to the SLPD, “He wouldn’t have walked away with a single Linden.”

The
Podex Exchange has a record of being one of the safest Linden exchange
services in Second Life, the data processing done outside the exchange,
and has a record of thousands of satisfied customers. Transactions can
be done at their website, or their location inworld at the Coda sim at (45, 218, 61).

Note: The preceding is a fictional story, written for the dual purpose of advertisement and entertainment.

It has been quite some time since Linden Lab introduced mesh graphics to Second Life. While they have been used to good effect in making realistic-looking and detailed items, unfortunately the clothes made with mesh sometimes fit avatars poorly. If someone wanted to wear such an outfit, they would have to "diet" by making the avatar conform to it's limited specifications. And to quite a number, this was a compromise to their virtual experience they felt they shouldn't have to make, "I came here to look how I want, not how something else wants me to look."

So a solution was sought. Qarl Fizz, the former Qarl Linden, soon developed a "Mesh deformer" which made outfits made with the graphics to conform to an avatar's shape. While others expressed interest, Linden Lab never did. When Qarl announced his departure from being involved with Second Life, he also mentioned no one with the Lab had bothered to comment or answer one of his emails about it.

About a month later, Linden Lab announced it's own solution to the mesh clothing problem in the official blog, "Making Mesh Garments Fit Better," saying they had found a different solution. Their Fitted Mesh Project Viewer added "collision bones" to avatars, which garments would be rigged to.

The Linden Lab development team has studied both approaches, and
compared their effectiveness, maintainability, and performance. Neither
approach completely eliminates the occasional need for an alpha clothing
layer to prevent small parts of the avatar skin from appearing through
garments, but both work quite well at resizing garments so that they fit
the avatar and move naturally with it. While the collision bones method
requires the creator to do some additional rigging, we have decided
that because it leverages more of the existing avatar shape system it is
likely to be the more maintainable solution and to perform better for a
wider range of users.

At this moment, the viewer is still in it's experimental stage and "At this time, the new skeleton should be considered
provisional and subject to change; we do not yet recommend selling or
buying garments rigged to it. ... any change to the collision
bones will likely break garments rigged before the change."

For the complete blog post, Click Here. Also, Inara Pey has written about the Mesh viewer, which you can read Here.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

With all the talk about the new and vague Terms of Service and people expressing doubts about Linden Lab, perhaps you're among those thinking of giving the InWorldz Grid a visit. But unless you have friends there, and sometimes even if you do, where does one go for help on making the move? There is one group in both InWorldz and Second Life that can help, the InWorldz - Second Life Connection Center.

There will be a question and answer meeting between Second Life residents and those who have also expanded to InWorldz.

This meeting will be held on November 30, 2013 at Noon SLT on the Second Life Grid. Seating at the meeting is limited because of the Sim limits. Please contact Nydia Tungsten to let her know you would like to attend. There will be a live video stream of the meeting also at .....

For all interested parties please contact Nydia Tungsten for the landmark and further instructions on how you can attend and ask questions. We hope in light of the many changes recently, many of you will attend.

On November 23rd, DrFran Babcock attended a showing of a Second Life adaptation of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Called "The Rocky Horrid Show," the experience was a delight to both longtime fans of the cult classic movie, known for it's audience participation, and Rocky Horror "virgins" alike. But don't kick yourself for missing it. Everyone had such a great time, they're going to do it again.

Help to help and join in for one night of entertainment and good music at the 2013 World Aids Day at La Perla. A rich variety of artists from all around the world meet in the most popular italian village in Second Life to entertain you and gather money for the "German Aids Aid" (Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe).
Enjoy the show, bring your friends and, if you can, give some Lindens for those who need help.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Thanksgiving is this week, and so be on the lookout for themed parties, like "Pilgrims and Indians" at Club Zero Gravity. It's also the last week of November, and winter themed events are continuing to appear, like the "Winter Wonderland." And don't forget the reguarly scheduled live and DJ music parties, book and
poetry readings, races, talk shows and discussions, and church services.

About a week ago, the Firestorm Viewer team began blocking older versions of it's Second Life viewer. These particular viewers "do not support the current rendering code," seeing other avatars as colorless and grey, and are considered obsolete. Jessica Lyon, the team manager, stated that they were also under pressure from Linden Lab to block these older viewers, "and we can either do it ourselves or adopt LL’s update system which
allows them to do it instead. Either we update you or LL does, but
either way, folks, updating is quite inevitable. The LL viewer enforces
updates, as do most all software applications with a fair grace period.
Our grace period will be three versions behind."

Jessica defended the Lab's position that the blocks were necessary to improve the user's inworld experience, "Second Life is not immersive if we see things drastically differently
from one another. This is going to sound harsh, but in some respects if
you are using versions that can only render avatars gray and/or versions
without mesh, you might as well be—and perhaps should be—using a text
based viewer."

The comments following Jessica's post were overall supportive, some thanking her and her team for their continued work. One did note these older viewers were still good for building things in private.

The following versions of the Firestorm viewer were blocked, with the number of users and dates they were discontinued. Note 4.3.1 still had over 40 thousand users.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Today, we have the third of DrFran Babcock's "Oldbie Project" series. In this story, DrFran interviews longtime resident Hikaru Yamamoto, known today as Kamui. Kamui talks about what first attracted her to Second Life, as well as what she encountered in her first day and her life in the early Grid.

Today, Becky talks about designer tips for girls with implants. As a clothing outfitter, she included a notecard with her outfits for bustier girls about how to tweak things to get the most out of the dress with the avatar. Today, there's a new kind of implant on the scene, and Becky shows how to get the best out of it and your clothes. And if you prefer furry avatars, Becky shows how the ladies can be busty bunnies.

This weekend was the 50th Anniversary of the long-running "Dr. Who" TV show, a sci-fi program in which the hero travels through time with a companion and uses his wits, and sonic screwdriver, to defeat various villains. Steelhead celebrated the anniversary by throwing a themed party, one with lots of Dr Who avatars, some which only a Whovian would recognize.

Thank you for your group’s letter. As mentioned in my last note,
we have been reviewing what changes could be made in light of the
concerns expressed by some Second Life content creators. The Terms of
Service impact all of our products and services, and the careful process
of reviewing, evaluating, and making any revisions does take some time;
we greatly appreciate the continued patience of concerned Second Life
content creators while we do so as quickly as we can.

Kylie Sabra, the spokeswoman of the UCCSL, thanked the Lab's messenger for his response, reminding him they would continue to check in for more responses, "In cases such as this, silence is not golden."

Saturday, November 23, 2013

A few days ago, a US Senate committee held a hearing about Bitcoin, the noted virtual currency. The meeting was held following the closing of the Silk Road Website due to illegal activity in which users were required to pay with Bitcoins, and 3.6 million dollars worth of the money were confiscated through encryption keys found in confiscated computer equipment. Various representatives, as well as submitted reports were heard. Among the opening remarks was one by committee chair Senator Thomas Carper, "Virtual currencies, perhaps most notably Bitcoin, have captured the imagination of some, struck fear among others, and confused the heck out of the rest of us."

Among the reports heard by the committee was a letter released by the FBI, which stated that they recognized virtual currency as offering "legitimate financial services." The value of Bitcoin, which had plummeted to about $110 US dollars following the Silk Road closure and recovered to $200 by late October, quickly soared to $900, then dropping to just over $700. While it was agreed the rise was driven by speculation, the endorsement of the currency was also seen as a factor, "regulatory interest in Bitcon … traditionally has a positive effect on the price."

While the virtual currency has been turning a few heads, not everyone is impressed. Currently, there are only just over 70,000 transactions using Bitcoin a day. While more than the 47,000 per day in June 2012, and 64,000 in April 2013, as Hamlet Au of New World Notes put it, "There are probably more people using Linden dollars in Second Life then there are people using Bitcoin in the entire world." And this is "years after the hype wave over Second Life has long since died down" while Bitcoin is still clearly in it's.

From Ole Etzel in Oct 2008, the second of his "Mr. Bones" videos. The skeleton sailor is still lost at sea and out of food. Hungry, he heads to the first land he sees for something to eat. But what he finds has some unexpected surprises.

Friday, November 22, 2013

The contest we started last week, inspired by Becky Shamen, for a cyclops avatar an the attractive side, is still going on. Here, Becky shows off her latest, and presumably final, version of her own.

The turn-in date has been moved up to December 6, with judging on the crew meeting on December 7. The prize is 3000 Lindens for the best one-eyed look. Mail pictures of an avatar of your design to bixylshuftan@gmail.com. One entry per person.

Winamp, a popular music player which has been playing tunes on peoples' computers since the late 90s, will no soon no longer be available for download. It was announced that after Dec 20, its owner AOL will close down it's website and no longer support the program.

Winamp was created by Justin Frankel and Dmitry Boldyrev in 1997, who would found Nullsoft a year later. By that time, the player in it's various versions had been downloaded over three million times. By the year 2000, there were over 25 million users. By this time, it was now the property of a larger company. In June 1999, AOL bought up Nullsoft and Winamp for 80 million.

Winamp's fortunes began to decline after the introduction of iTunes, but a number of it's people blame AOL for it's problems. Rob Lord, it's first general manager, spoke in a 2012 interview, "There's no reason that Winamp couldn't be in the position that iTunes is today if not for a few layers of mismanagement by AOL that started immediately upon acquisition." It is believed Winamp still brings in six million dollars a year in revenue.

Despite the problems, Winamp continued to see developments, and it's apparently remained popular with computer users. The news of the closure was announced within some Second Life groups, "… if you want to continue to use Winamp … it's advisable you download the latest version." Shockwave Yareach, a Second Life DJ, commented, "Pity, I use it a lot. (I) even bought the pro version. Best twenty bucks I ever spent, since the license is good permanently. … lots of DJs in Second Life use it." Of the company, Shockwave remarked, "I understand now what happened to Time-Warner/AOL. If your management can't make money with the Internet standard already in place, you shouldn't be in business."

This might not be the last word for the music player. There are stories of negotiations behind the scenes for a sale. And if the "servers do go dark, Winamp will likely remain available through BitTorrent and other unauthorized sources." Considering how in it's early days, Winamp was the player of choice of music downloaded through the controversial Napster file-sharing service, some of it's longtime fans might consider this an ironic fate.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Last week, some statistics about the Inworldz grid were released. Jim Tarber posted graphs in the InWorldz forum showing the growth of the virtual world. They show a slightly different rate of growth than what was suggested earlier as a result of Linden Lab's Terms of Service fallout, though still impressive.

Over time, the number of users in Jim's statistics show steady growth from July 2010 in which the Grid's total number of users was less than ten thousand to today with the total just shy of 90,000 and expected to reach 100,000 "before Easter 2014." There has been no great jump in registered users in the past couple months, though.

Where there *has* been a big jump recently is InWorldz's user concurrency. Numbers have overall made a slow climb in the past few years. But over the past few months, the number of residents in the Grid at any one time has gone from less than 300 to over 400. A rise of more than a third.

What this suggests is that while there are some people visiting InWorldz for the first time, since the ToS mess began, more people whom had already been to this Grid are returning.

It's also notable that in the past, land sales have gone through "summer peaks" where they rise, and "autumn lulls" in which they drop. This time the "lull" barely registered in the statistics, and sales climbed again, "that could be a sign of a large rise in the new year."

While InWorldz numbers remain small compared to Second Life, these statistics suggest it's been gowning while the larger Grid was just treading water. And after the ToS mess began, it's been much more active with more virtual land being bought than before.

*Addition* This month, Hypergrid Business listed InWorldz as having an active user population of over 8200.

"The
Sun is the dominant driver of Earth's climate. Almost all the energy
we use here on Earth comes from the Sun. We will follow the travels of a
photon from where it is generated in the core of the Sun until it
reaches Earth. Along the way we will visit many of the interesting
tourist attractions."

Winter is officially still a month away. But some places in Second Life have already gotten their snowfall. One of them is Palma, which was renovated for what its owners call it's Winter Ice Rock Festival. Gemma Cleanslate was told about the place, and went over to see the scenic place.

Second Life is about ten and a half years old, longer if one counts its beta days. Most of us came on at a later date. So how can we see Second Life as it was way back when? One way to get a peek at these early days is the Second Life Historical Museum. Becky Shamen found out about the place, and gave it a look.

Recently on the official Second Life blog, Linden Lab announced the latest step of their "Project Shinning." This development now available in the new official viewer, promises a more sensible, or "interesting," way for objects to rezz. Hence the name "Project Interesting." What it promises to do is replace the seemingly random pattern of objects rezzing to a more prioritized one where those which are larger and closer to your avatar appear first.

... this project will greatly reduce the load and time it takes to draw
objects in regions. Put simply, this means scenes will appear more
quickly and smoothly as you move throughout Second Life. ... We’ve already made the server smarter about sending the important,
"interesting" stuff first, and today we’re launching a release candidate
for a new Viewer that does a much better job of storing and managing
the scene data on your computer. This will not only improve the speed at
which a location loads, it will also help with overall Viewer
performance.

It's a problem most of us can relate to, how often the objects most important to us are about the last ones to rezz, such as a door that remains invisible and can't be opened to let one through. So a development like this sounds good. But recalling what Server-Side baking did to the Second Life experience of residents with older computers, some can be pardoned for asking "what's the catch?" And indeed, resident Bay Sweetwater suggested Project Interesting doesn't quite work well with Mac computers.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

It's a week full of events in Second Life. See exhibitions like Arythmos, an artistic look about numbers an their influence on peoples' lives.Don't forget to check other special events, nor the reguarly scheduled live and DJ music parties, book and poetry readings, discussions, races, talk shows, and church services.

BAY CITY, SL - Come to the Bay City Fairgrounds on Sunday, 8th December 2013 from 1-4 pm SLT for a tree lighting, skating party, silent auction, music event featuring GoSpeed Racer, Grace McDunnough, and CelticMaidenWarrior Lancaster. The event will be held at the Bay City Fairgrounds, in North Channel ( http://slurl.com/secondlife/North%20Channel/128/128/24/ ). There will be ice-skating, dancing, refreshments and lots of fun!

In addition to all the above, a silent auction is planned for the event. We are asking Second Life™ designers and artists to participate by providing fun, interesting, unique, or others transferrable items (or a no-copy object that the auction winner can give to you to redeem their prize, if the item(s) have to be no transfer) that reflect well on your Second Life pursuits. Please contact Marianne McCann to participate.

Auction will end at the conclusion of the event at 4 p.m. SLT. All proceeds from the silent auction and from donation bins at the venue will go to Child's Play Charity (www.childsplaycharity.org). Child's Play is a 501c3 non profit organization offers online communities such as ours an opportunity to help seriously ill children around the globe during their hospital stays with the purchase of games and gaming equipment.

Bay City is a mainland community, developed by Linden Lab® and home to the Bay City Alliance. The Bay City Alliance was founded in 2008 to promote the Bay City regions of Second Life and provide a venue for Bay City Residents and other interested parties to socialize and network. It is now the largest group for Residents of Bay City.

For more information, or to participate in the event, please contact Marianne McCann: marianne.mccann@gmail.com

Monday, November 18, 2013

The Arcade Gacha has gotten attention for it's unique way of people playing it. Content creators offer goods as prizes for gacha machines, which can be played by residents for a low price. The attraction for many is there's a small chance for a rare version of the item. And if you can't get the rare you want, as the items are no copy but tradeable, people can swap gacha items. For fans of gacha comes some good news. A show on Second Life TV about this kind of event made its debute.

Please Join The Quest Fur Cover Group for future updates and information
secondlife:///app/group/60b06886-19d8-b307-2794-3d55c7e2d0ad/about

..::Objective::..
To provide a hunt that brings as many furry and furry friendly places across the grid together as possible through one hunt. Each location will hide a hunt item within their store/area/community which will contain a prize from them and a landmark to the next area.

:..::How it will work::..
Once you are accepted into the QFC Line Up you will be added to the list. The list will go in order of when people have joined and this is the how the hunt from store to store will go.
The list of participating stores/communities will be kept updated via the organizers and every merchant will be sent the hunt item nearer the time. The hunt item must be hidden within their area with their prize and a landmark to the next merchant's place inside of it.

..::Participant rules::..

All items given away must by your own design , using mesh/sculpt from a creator kit is fine as long as you incorporate it into your own thing.

Items must be of the highest quality you can do. This maybe a free hunt for customers but that should not mean the standard should be lacking. This hunt is to encourage communities to work better together and promotion for all. If Patrons like your items they may well be back!

Please try to keep things unisex or provide for both genders. Also keep in mind Furs love to mod! so making your items mod/copy will prove popular with the hunters (this is optional for all merchants though)

When you hide the hunt item make sure it is accessible by all hunters (Eg not covered by a sculpt or mesh with invisible blockage that will prevent the item to be clicked on

Hunt items must be set to 0L

If you wish to join us as a merchant please fill out this and add your name to the note card before sending it back to one of the organizers

..::Second Life Name::..

..::Store Name:;..

..::Other contact if you are not available::..

..::What do you sell::..

..::Landmark::..

..::Sim rating your store/area is on::..

..::Is payment info or age verification needed to enter the sim your area is on::..

With InWorldz getting more attention from Second Life users due to Linden Lab's Terms of Service controversy, people have been looking for facts about the virtual world. But with concerns about misleading information, an event to explain what's true and what isn't true about the InWorldz grid is being organized.

Nydia Tungsten, whom has been traveling some to InWorldz along with some of her friends, expressed concern about what she feels are false rumors, notably a statement by Kinzart Productions that went beyond saying they would not be selling their avatars there, but also called InWorldz a "poorly maintained clone" of Second Life that was basically "a haven for thieves and copybotters" and at "risk of being shut down" by the US government. She got together with Amore Crux and Zia Larnia, who run the InWorldz/Second Life Connection Center, and informed Second Life Newser they will be holding a discussion about this alternative virtual world, fully open to the Second Life public.

The day and time for the discussion will be Saturday November 30, at Noon SL time. A location for the event has not yet been determined. While the IW/SLCC in the sim of Appletor would be appropriate for a small event, with the attention the issue's been getting across Second Life residents, a place in which the audience can listen from three or four sims is being looked for.

As for Kinzart's accusations, they were dismissed by Nydia and Amore. Nydia stated that the Grid was stable compared to Second Life, and the lag was no worse than the larger Grid, and for some even less. As for copybotters, Nydia
told Second Life Newser about hearing in a InWorldz group chat someone
who was basically hounded out of the chatroom after admitting a skin she
was having trouble with was given by a friend who got it from Second
Life, the people demanding that she ditch it for one bought from
an InWorldz dealer, and threatening to report her. InWorldz, she stated, has as little tolerance for copybotters as Second Life, if not less. Amore stated, "In InWorldz, if anyone steals some other's creations and try to sell it, they get kicked out."

Nydia added, "there are less copybotters there in InWorldz than Second Life
because it is less known. But to put a whole grid down like that with no
proof or reason, (it) goes beyond not so thought out responses from someone
that clearly had no idea of what they were talking about."

Once again, the discussion is planned for Nov 30. The location will be announced by Second Life Newser once a place has been found.

It was shortly before yours truly began going on Second Life on a regular basis in which he got the computer that would be used to write his stories as a reporter for JamesT Juno's SLN, and then the first few years as editor of Second Life Newser. But eventually, one needs to update their equipment, either through the old wearing out or breaking down, or there's something new that is worth the money spent. And after more than six years, it was time to get a new machine.

Friday, November 15, 2013

It hasn't been easy finding those of Second Life's original residents whom are still around, but DrFran Babcock has. Today, she continues her "Oldbie Project" with Pie Psaltery. In her interview, Pie talked about her time in Second Life's early days, what she feels made them special, and what keeps her coming back.

Artistic expression can take on many forms. Sometimes, art is done as a means of protest. At the Somnium Photo Art Gallery, there's a floor dedicated to an exhibition protesting Linden Lab's Terms of Service update infringing on content creators. Second Life Newser took a look at the art, some thought provoking, some humorous, but all with the same message: Linden Lab, respect our rights.

Featured in the Linden blog, "We’ve seen many great machinima films created in Second Life
over the years and are happy to see events like the Machinima Expo
recognizing the talent and amazing work that goes into creating
machinima.

The Machinima Expo celebrates its sixth year with screenings and panel discussions about the art of Machinima on November 17th, 2013.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

During this Veterans Day weekend, there was a special exhibit set up in the Southfield sim: the Veterans Tribute memorial wall.

On Veterans Day, I gave the place a visit.
The landmark I was given took me to a small replica of the Lincoln
Memorial, and I was facing the memorial wall in front of me. The total
amount of ground made up a quarter sim. It was made up of a fountain
with four sections of wall to the northwest, northeast, southeast, and
southwest. Each of the sections was made up of bricks, each with the
name of a veteran given by a resident. The bricks have the soldier's
name, plus rank and branch of service plus either a date or what
conflict the soldier took part in. There were a couple bricks for
veterans of the Revolutionary War and Civil War, though most were for
World War Two and more recent conflicts such as Vietnam, Afghanistan,
and Iraq. One brick was for the late Second Life resident Lothi Aeon,
whom in real life was Army Specialist Jacob D. Borton.

Most
of the names are American, but the wall is open to all and some were in
honor of veterans from other nations. The flags of a number of
democracies fly over the memorial. Around the wall are a number of
smaller memorials such as one for Canadian servicemen whom did not
survive their time in Afghanistan. Over the central fountain itself flew
flags of the US Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force, with a flame
burning in the center, with a statue of a rifle stuck into an unoccupied
pair of boots with a helmet on top, a symbol of a soldier fallen in
battle, with the following chiseled in stone behind it:

Without you standing sentinel, and ever must you be,Without you standing sentinel, not one would long live free.

There
are also a few combat vehicles set up, plus a few aircraft in the air.
Trees and rock separated the exhibition from the rest of the sim.
Bordering the sim edge was a strip of poppies.

While
there, one of the Tribute staff was there, Wildroses Pevensey. She
greeted visitors, whom included a number who were veterans in real life.
She told me that the exhibit had been up for three days, and was due to
be taken down the next day. In previous years, the Veterans Tribute was
part of larger events, and part of a sim-wide display that was up for a week, "We've had to scale back."

The following day, the memorial was gone, in storage until Veterans Day next year.

As you know, in the past few days we have seen very
devastating news where Typhoon Haiyan hit several countries. Typhoon Haiyan is
known as the strongest storm that ever happened and it has been reported to
cause more than 10,000 death and more than 9 million people are affected. At
the moment, there's no electricity, no water and no food. And they need our
help.

I am Jammeh Resident, the owner of T o r o and I am
Filipino. I am very devastated to see my friends, my family and fellow Filipino
affected by this awful disaster.

I am currently setting up a fundraiser to help our fellow
Filipinos through this hard time. Donation
will go directly to the International Red cross in the Philippines.

We are inviting each of you to donate 1 or 2 items to
help this cause. Any items as long as it is yours would be acceptable.

Terms:

1. Please fill in the following form if you are
interested to participate:

Name:

Brand Name:

SLURL:

Flickr url:

I hereby state that I
agree to donate (1 or 2) items to Typhoon Haiyan Fundraiser and the proceed
will be donated to TyphoonHaiyan Resident in the period of 15 - 30 November
2013. (Yes/No)

Please return this
application in a note card to Jammeh Resident before November 13th - mid SLT.

2. You will receive a donation kit that will include:

- Vendor with script (all sales goes to TyphoonHaiyan
Resident)

- Donation Box that you can place on your store (all
proceed goes to TyphoonHaiyan Resident)

- Picture templates where you can add the images of items
that will go on sale. We will post this picture to our flickr groups, website,
facebook page and inworld groups.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Earlier, Becky Shamen had the idea of trying to come up with a cyclops av that was pretty. With her own skills, she came up with this look. Good, but she wondered maybe someone could do better.

In the nearly 4 years, i've been in SL, there are very few things that
haven't been made, somewhere in world. I think I am the first to make an
attractive cyclops and I challenge other designers to come up with a
better one.

Second Life Newser will pay 2000L to anyone whom can improve on Becky's idea of an attractive cyclops avatar. Mail pictures of an avatar of your design to bixylshuftan@gmail.com. One entry per person. Entries must be made by December 2. At our next staff meeting that day, we'll go through the pictures and see if someone did better. If we get a number of people who did better, we'll ask the finalists in-avatar a week later to show off their creations, with the best one getting the prize and the others getting consolation prizes.

So do you have an "eye" for this kind of work? Let's see your best "cy."

*Addition* A reader has offered to add 1000 Lindens to the prize, making it a total of 3000 Lindens.

DrFran Babcock recently interviewed Ronon Carver, one of the rangers of last month's Burn2 art and music festival. In the interview, Ronon discussed her introduction to both Burn2 and the real life Burning Man yearly festival it's based on, in addition to the pitfalls and rewards of being a ranger. She also mentioned how the principles behind the festivals changed her life.

Shortly after it's fundraising season in Second Life ended, the Relay for Life began one in the virtual world of InWorldz. Events to raise cash to combat cancer took place every week, and last Saturday was the largest and last one: the Relay for Life in InWorldz Weekend. Human and Tiny avatars ran around the track, had fun in rides, and danced at DJ performances.